Remote chemical identification is an increasingly important tool for environmental agencies, military groups, manufacturers, and other organizations. Many chemical plants, manufacturing plants, water utilities, military bases, and other facilities use and store hazardous chemicals. In the event that chemicals are released, it is desirable to identify the chemicals and assess the threat from a distance. Ideally, potentially hazardous chemicals should be identified without exposing human investigators to the chemicals. Remote identification, known as stand-off detection, can be effective over a large area and may be used in a variety of ambient conditions.
Conventional stand-off chemical identification systems traditionally employ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to identify chemicals in the atmosphere. FTIR spectroscopy, however, is sensitive to noise and performs poorly in changing background conditions. The computational demands of Fourier transform analysis also slow the analysis process. Furthermore, the Fourier transform removes valuable information from interferogram data and limits the precision of the analysis. Additionally, many FTIR systems require blackbody radiation sources and other expensive hardware for calibration.